1. Field
Example embodiments generally relate to a solar-assisted garment, more particularly to a glove, wrap and animal blanket incorporating a solar panel and electrical storage means in electrical communication with the solar panel.
2. Related Art
Maintenance and support for warmth in cold weather environments contributes to more comfortable working conditions, enjoyable recreational activities, natural disaster/national disaster emergency relief efforts, and survival in some instances.
Presently available cold weather garments have limited capabilities due to the technology that has been presented as solutions. Clothing available offers warmth by covering the body and relies on the temperature of the body and insulation of the clothing, which in many instances is insufficient for the wearer.
One active solution is battery powered clothing, but this solution has very limited capabilities due to the capacity of power storage, short life of the battery, and costs to maintain. The reliance on battery power that is supplied is impractical for a long term need of warmth. The needed support solely relying on batteries adds to the cost of maintenance due to the recurring need for batteries. High maintenance costs, limited low capacity short life batteries, and the inconvenience of the requirement for the continuous purchasing of additional batteries are all limiting factors. Extending the heating capabilities, the flexibility to support additional charging methods, as well as localization of the heat with minimal maintenance issues, is desirable.
Lighter fluid-fueled hand warmers are available for support of an auxiliary source of heat. There are chemically activated ‘hand warmer’ heat packs which are available and cater to short term certain situations. The use of lighter fluid based hand warmers poses potentially hazardous conditions as a smoldering canister of flammable liquid is introduced into one's garment. Also, chemical heat packs last for limited durations and after initial activation, a boiling point needs to be reached in order to subsequently activate. Due the required method to regenerate the chemical heat packs for further uses, such as boiling water, it is impractical for remote outdoor needs. For cold outdoor weather work and various recreational activities this is not feasible as there is likely no power or no capability to bring the required equipment.
As mentioned above, battery operated garments have limited capabilities and in addition are costly to maintain and inconvenient due to the need for continuous battery replacement and the inability in some cases to acquire replacement batteries in remote areas or in natural disaster situations. Extending the heating capabilities, the flexibility to support additional charging methods, as well as localization of the heat with minimal maintenance issues, is desirable.
The example embodiments to be discussed in detail hereafter provide an environmentally friendly solution by utilizing solar technology and energy storage. In remote areas such inaccessibility to battery products does not lend itself to proper maintaining the warmth required. The present inventor is unaware of cold weather garments that provide each of: (1) environmentally friendly warming solution and energy storage (2) several options for maintaining continuous heat for extended periods of time by utilizing various methods for charging the storage device, (3) temperature control, (4) the ability for outside or ambient temperature information. It would be very beneficial for those wearers involved in cold weather environments to have a garment that exhibits these outlined characteristics that are currently lacking in present cold weather garment solutions.